Keep Learning

One of the reasons I started this business was that I felt it would put me in a good position to always be learning and challenging myself. Apparently it's working and here's why.

I sent samples to BIG company about a month ago per their request. A year or two ago I would have hoped to have an email from them a day or two later. When I sent off the samples this time around and was asked by friends when they thought I'd hear back I said I was hoping to hear something by the end of the month.

So the end of the month has rolled around and I haven't heard anything. Normally I would be off the wall by now. Instead I opt to send them a quick email followup yesterday. Again, a few years ago I would have expected an email response right away. Now I figure if I don't hear anything in the next 2-3 weeks I'll followup again.

If patience truly is a virtue it's nice to think I may actually be getting a little bit more virtuous.

Keeping Busy Part 1

The first half of the year is always slow for me - that's just the way my business is set up. I typically pay for it in spades the second half of the year. But I knew going into this year that things were going to be quieter then normal with the way the economy was turning - who would have thought that November '08 was going to look like a good economic month in retrospect!

So I tried to steel myself for what I assumed were going to be quiet days and little or no sales. The funny thing is, even though I knew all that going in, I also knew that I was going to get all frazzled over the fact that things were quiet and I find that I'm inching closer and closer to the frazzled point each day. The problem is that when I get to the frazzled point I typically start to make rash decisions that may be good for revenue today but aren't inline with the long term goals of the company or the positioning of the brand. So I've been trying to find constructive ways to keep myself busy which will hopefully also keep me out of trouble.

Thankfully the nonprofit I'm on the Board of, like most nonprofits, is always looking for unique ways to raise money and I brought an idea to them that I had seen executed very well at another nonprofit. They liked the idea so I did some more research and wrote up a formal business proposal - complete with projected financials - and presented it to the Board. If things go well, and this is based on conservative numbers, this project will bring in 3x as much profit as a similar project that it would replace. That's pretty significant. Course we've got to make it work. So I've now been placed in the lead role on this new project and it's a BIG one. It's going to take a lot of time and a lot of legwork to get it pulled off and pulled off correctly.

But you know what, I'm really really excited about it. Not only is it working on a project and for a cause I'm passionate about, but I also see it as a blessing for my business because it's going to keep my mind and hands busy. Whenever I find myself with not enough to do I can be pretty sure there's something I should be doing on this nonprofit project. Also, the first big project push should pretty much lead up until the end of July/August timeframe which is when I typically start getting signficantly more busy with the business. I really do see this as win-win for all involved. Not to mention that I want to prove to the Board that the fact that I "go dark" (a term one of them used to describe my all-encompassing business focus in Q3&Q4) doesn't mean I can't contribute - and in a very big way - to the nonprofit.

My New Office!

Hooray - my new office is finally done! I'm in the process of moving myself into it and likely will be most of the weekend but it's here. The carpeting makes a HUGE difference in the basement. See for yourself:

Before:

Painted but no carpeting (photo taken from the same angle - taken with my blackberry which is why the photo seems so dark):

Now newly carpeted with shelving unit: (photo taken from the same angle but again with my blackberry so I apologize for the darkness of the photo):

I've started putting folders and books away in the shelving and I'm already at a lose for what I'm going to do with all the extra shelving space. I thought I was going to run out but it's looking like I'm going to have extra space left over. I'm just so happy!

I finally made the call today that the red couch which has lived in our basement since we got here - the red couch I've had since before I met my husband - is going to try and find a new home curtesy of Craigslist. As much as I love it, it's just taking up space and not being utilized. And when I only have about 250sqft to work with down there, that's space I need. So the couch will hopefully find a new home, the desk will move into the couch's spot, and then we'll still have room to set up the bikes and the trainers when needed AND give the dogs some running room down there.

Speaking of which, I'm convinced my youngest dog just equates "carpeting" with "crazy time." When we go to visit my parents house in Wyoming we always send them down into the carpeted basement when they start to go a little nuts and the younger pup just does laps in the basement. However, that's the only time she's ever seen carpeting. Now that we have it installed in the basement she literally turns into crazy dog everytime she goes down there. Even last night at 10pm she was down there doing windsprints...this for a dog who, and I'm being serious when I say this, goes upstairs to bed on her own at 8:30pm every night. It's really rather hilarious to watch though it has me wondering how productive my time down there will be with crazy dog erupting in the background.

SEO, Webguru, and Carpeting

Three part post today so I'll try to keep it short.

SEO: I mentioned awhile ago that I'm focusing on SEO (search engine optimization) as part of my social networking marketing plan and have been working on learning more. Today this popped into my email inbox which I thought might be useful to others out there: http://www.hubspot.com/seo-for-lead-generation-kit/?source=email_20090219b

It's a Search Engine Optimization For Leads Kit and it's free! Why, because the guys are HubSpot (the folks who put the kit together) are not only uber-cool but because they are also incredibly smart and know that by starting to build relationships with us small businesses when we're small and not necessarily flush with cash by giving us information we need, we're more likely to turn to them when we do have money. Why? Because we know that they're obviously experts in their field and they've been willing to help us along regardless of where we were size wise. The kit contains 3 hour long webinars along with an SEO guidelines book. I'm halfway through the first video and if you're anything like me - basically ignorant when it comes to SEO - it will likely be really beneficial to check out.

Secondly, if you're in need of a webguru to do things like SEO and build websites for you let me know. My webguru just lost his fulltime contract so is looking to pick up work where he can. I can attest to the fact that he's a really strong web designer and programmer, is very honest, and offers good pricing. Plus he's a great dad to two small kids and I'd love to help him out as much as possible. So let me know if you have a need for your own web guru.

Lastly, the new carpeting is in. And talk about customer service - I had a manager and sales rep from Lowe's come out to check on the installation after it was in. On the one hand I'm pretty impressed with that level of customer service. On the other, it made me more than a little nervous to let two strange men into my house just because they were wearing red lowe's vests. But they were legit and the carpeting makes a HUGE difference. I'll post some pictures tomorrow as I start to reconfigure the space. In the meantime, my dogs are having a blast doing windsprints downstairs on the carpeting. Since the rest of our house if hardwood they're not used to being able to run inside without sliding. It's like a funhouse for dogs!

Looking For Some Cheap PR?

For small companies PR always seems like one of those elusive things that you'd kill to get but you just don't know how to go about it. PR has always been on my radar - I even took a PR class through an adjacent school while working on my MBA. All I can say is that those are hours I will never have back again. I really had high hopes for the class but it was less then inspiring. Though I did manage to faint due to the flu the first day of class so I made quite an impression as 'the freaky business school girl.' Can't say I made too many friends in that class after that.

Then the first full year of my business I paid - get this - $17,000 for a PR firm. Far and away the biggest financial mistake I've made thus far. It still pains me to see that number. Now maybe other PR firms are MUCH MUCH better (you literally couldn't have been much worse) but during the several months I was working with them, I generated more PR on my own simply by talking to various people then they generated for me. Honestly still makes me ill to think of that money wasted.

But that doesn't mean I don't value PR. We were featured on CBS' The Early Show this past holiday season and while it didn't necessarily bring us a ton of sales, it has helped elevate our brand name. How did I get the piece on CBS? Not by anything I did myself. Apparently it came via a blog post that a blogger wrote about us! And while I'm utterly grateful, that's not exactly a PR plan I can count on going forward.

Then today I stumbled upon this site that another small business recommended: http://www.ereleases.com/. From my understanding, it's a free PRwire service that sends your press release out to a national database of reporters along with two targeted submarkets (ie - grocery trade publications or tech market freelancers). Now it's not totally free, it costs $399 to send out a release, but there's no associated membership fee which is typically how other newswire sources work. They're also partnered with PRNewswire which gives it a little more credibility in my mind given that PRNewswire is the major press release newswire service in the US if not the world. And I did a quick scan of the database they say they send stuff to and it's certainly a lot of recognizable press outlets. I haven't used it yet but at $399 I'm definitely interested. I have two main things this year I'm working on for the company that, depending on how things come to pass, it might be useful to put a press release out there and see what happens. I'll definitely keep you updated on what happens if I do use it. Or if you have experience with this or another service let me know.

PS: I had been hoping to post today with pictures of my newly carpeted basement but, true to form for an old house, turns out that when adding carpeting to a house this old it's a multi-day process so that the glue strips and tacking can fully adhere to the cement flooring. As such, I now have a basement full of tacks and no carpeting. Hopefully on Thursday the carpeting will all come together and I can spend some time on Friday getting the basement set up.

Basement to Office - The Facelift Continues

It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do for a room. The space just feels cleaner and fresher! I had wanted to use exactly the same color on the basement walls as before but couldn't find an old paintcan with the color (from the previous owners) and nor could I match the color exactly. I came pretty close though - maybe a little lighter then the original color but it's a basement so the lighter the better to try and make the space seem brighter (see, I do watch HGTV from time to time!). As of now the basement is fully painted trim and all. Here are some before and after pics:













Obviously still some work to do and I actually still have to repaint the stairwell which I'm hoping to do today & this weekend as the carpet guys are coming on Tuesday to put down the new carpeting. So we also get to spend some time this weekend moving anything left in the basement upstairs into the main level so that it's totally clear down there. But once the carpeting is done I'll be able to start putting up shelving and getting things organized which will not only turn the basement into an office, but hopefully also turn the guestroom and dining room table back to their intended purposes! I wonder if my mother-in-law is going to miss sleeping in amongst my files when she comes to visit? :)

Since I've posted a bunch of pictures today I thought I'd post one more for Friday entertainment. Here's a picture from when I was trapped on the other side of the mountains for several days in a hotel room with the dogs while waiting for roads to clear up. Doesn't my youngest dog look happy that we're getting to spend quality time together?

I Passed!

I passed the state exam I was required to take. I won't lie, I was a tad nervous though only because my husband promised to make fun of me if I didn't. Though it would have been hard to truly fail. In true "we want to make sure everyone can win" attitude, the city actually allows you to retake the test as many times as possible without additional cost until you do pass. The test is also offered in numerous other languages so that the language barrier won't pose a problem. And it's not like this is the bar exam. They actually explained - for five minutes (no joke) - how to fill in a scantron sheet. So I had every reason to believe my beloved would, rightly so, make fun of me if I failed the exam.

But I did pass and don't have to go back and redo it for another two years. I even got 100%. Thinking about going out to get myself some gold stars to put on the exam. Maybe I should hang it up on the fridge.

Snow Day

"Holy Crap - It Snowed!!" - that was the first thing out of my husband's mouth this morning when he woke up at o'dark early to take the pups for a run. Normally Monday mornings aren't run mornings but he was doing me a favor and taking them running so I could get to an exam I'm required by the city to take every 2-5 years for legal use of my workspace. The plan was he would take them running - which he did, almost killing himself in the process and breaking his own leg - and that then they'd sleep for several hours while I was at this exam. He accomplished his part of the plan. But Seattle is not used to snow and does not know how to deal with it. My husband, being from Salt Lake City, and me, being from Jackson Hole WY, make fun of how this city reacts to the slightest bit of snow. Though in its defense, if you've never been to Seattle you have to know that many of our street are akin to the streets of San Francisco. They are brutally steep and the right combination of snow and ice could easily launch you and your car into the rather chilly Elliott Bay.

True to form though, Seattle is freaking out about the snow and as such all morning city services have been canceled. With it goes my 8:30am exam. This means I have to reschedule for Wedns and I HAVE to go on Wedns because my current certification expires on Wednesday. Serves me right for leaving this for last minute!

In the meantime, I have plans to go play in the basement again today. Half of the basement is now fully painted and most of the furniture has been moved out so I can now easily get to the front half. My plan today is to tape off and paint all the baseboards today and then hit the walls with a fresh coat of paint tomorrow. After that it's just waiting for the carpeting guys. I hope they come soon because I fear it's going to be a really quiet business week. There's a big tradeshow in Florida this week. More for the bigger players then for companies like me but that means my two bigger and BIG company contacts are there this week. And I imagine a lot of small retailers will be there as well if for no other reason then to have an excuse to get some Florida sun and write it off as a business expense. Waking up to our dusting of snow this morning had me wishing I had planned a trip to Florida now too!

What Makes You Feel Powerful

This question - What Makes You Feel Powerful? - is blatently stolen from a friend's blog. But as an entrepreneur who has yet to bring home an actual paycheck - or, in this economy, for anyone who is underemployed or unemployed, it's a pretty important question to ask yourself. When I first asked myself this question I was shocked that I didn't have an answer. Truth be told, as a woman without a child a lot of one's worth is tied up in paychecks. I differentiate "without a child" because mom's without a doubt have the world's toughest job and it seems like many of them - from what I see from my friends - find a new level of power in navigating the many many challenges parenthood throws at them.

But if you don't have kids and can't be classified as 'stay-at-home mom' (which should more aptly be called 'work-at-home mom') then how do you measure yourself when you don't bring home a paycheck. Like I said, I've been mulling over this for several days now because, right or wrong, our culture is one that is pretty predicated on measuring people by what it is they do for a living. What's the first question we often ask of someone new after we're introduced to them - "What do you do for a living?"

So I've been thinking of what makes me powerful despite my lack of paycheck and this is what I've come up with so far. I'll also apologize in advance for what may seem like some pretty strong gender roles below that would make Gloria Steinem hate me. Below is the my list thus far. What's on yours?

1. Getting QuickBooks up to date. Sadly this only happens about 4x a year so it's not a regular powerful feeling.
2. Getting my to-do list done. Truthfully I never get the entire to-do list done because I always put too much stuff on it but if I can knock off a good chunk on any given day I do feel pretty powerful.
3. Getting the house cleaned, organized, laundry done, and dinner ready. While this sounds horribly anti-feminist it really has more to do with the fact that since I work from home most of the time I have more flexibility to get these things done. It means less chores to do on the weekend and more time for fun stuff my better half and I can do together.
4. Getting all the house errands run on any particular day. Again, not meant to be anti-feminist but more because it helps me feel like I add value to my partnership in lieu of a paycheck.
5. Coming up with new product or marketing ideas that are actually feasible and - more importantly - good ideas!
6. Working on and completing projects for the nonprofit I'm on the board of. Makes me feel like I'm helping out something greater then just my immediate circle of influence. Not to mention that it means I have to schedule meetings, meet deadlines, etc and it helps provide struture to my days during the slow periods.
7. Making house renovations - or overseeing the contractors for the bigger jobs. I like making smart improvements to our house as I feel it helps add value - both to our immediate lives and the value of the house.
8. Showing up at a race knowing that I'm well prepared to do my best.

Back to the Office

It was a rough 24 hours but one piece of bad news turned out to be not as bad as anticipated. On Wednesday we had to take one of my dogs in for emergency ultrasound for a "suspicious soft tissue mass" on her spleen. Course your first thought goes to cancer and, at 11 years old, I wasn't keen to put her under to have the spleen taken out. However, it turns out to be another - completely treatable - issue instead so she should be just fine. The second piece of bad news is still unfolding and not getting any better but that one is just completely out of my control. I just feel horrible for all involved.

With half of the bad news out of the way, I stopped by Lowe's today to order the carpeting and get the paint for the basement. I never knew it would cost $850 to carpet 276 square feet. And that's with the cheaper eco-carpeting! Speaking of which, the Lowe's flooring guy I worked with was SO excited I chose the environmental carpeting option. As in, called in the floors and windows guy to point it out and went on and on about how we could tell everyone we were doing our part for the environment. At $850 apparently we're also doing our part for the economy! But it will make a huge difference in the space (the floor is just the concrete base right now so anything will be a huge improvement).

Now that the carpet's ordered I have a deadline looming over me to get the painting done before the carpet arrives and is ready for installation. So tomorrow after a few morning errands the pups and I will be down in the basement happily painting away.

That damn tornado

The bad news tornado touched down today - twice. Not with regards to the business but to the one thing closer to my heart then anything else, my family. I've alternatively spent the day crying and seething in anger. For the two triathletes who read this blog with any regularity, I'm leaving now to try and get a workout done in the hopes it makes me sleep tonight despite the fact that sometimes going to the gym and realizing I can't yet do anything I used to do pre-leg break just wants to make me cry. Yeah, I'm sure this workout will go down as one of my better. And to make this a business related post - let me say that another great thing about working for yourself is the ability to just decide to call it a day at 1:30pm because you feel like you've already taken enough lumps.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better and provide a little more clarity on what we have going on here. In the meantime, I hope the tornadoes are staying far away from you.

How Much Do You Trust Your Gut

The beauty of running a small business is that we can be really flexible with regards to what happens in the macro-economy and how that impacts our small piece of the world. Mainly it changes what products I'm going to release in a calendar year. I like to try and act like one of the big guys I used to work for and create a marketing plan in the Fall (or more realistically for me, while I'm home at my parents house during Christmas) that outlines what we're going to do the following year. It's supposed to be a guideline. And I can honestly say I don't think I've once followed it in the 3 years this company has been up and running.

This time round what's set me off from the current plan is an "idea." The one thing I can say that truly strikes fear in my husband's heart is hearing me say "I have an idea." It started with some packaging I saw on a completely unrelated product but it got my mind working and now - in my mind's eye - I've developed a completely new product. I know how it looks, I know how the packaging looks, and I've already figured out how it would need to be marketed. Best of all, it's actually in line with another new product I was already planning to release this year.

What's the problem? Well, how smart is it to release 2+ new products in one of the worst economies since the Great Depression? Granted, the launch costs are minimal so it's not a lot of money out the door on my end and my hope is that any sales help make up for what I anticipate will be a decline in sales for some of our more expensive products. But is it just pure madness to release new products in this economy?

The crux is that my gut says to go for it. It was that same gut that said I had to release a new product last year that I thought up late one night. That product went on to be the biggest selling product for my company last year and brought us SO much press and attention that was ultimately hugely beneficial for the company. I think that product alone was the reason why we hit our financial goals despite the bad economy. So do I listen to that same gut this time round? What about the fact that said gut doesn't spend a lot of time reading our financial statements?